Against all the odds, Augusta is ready. Less than 200 days after Hurricane Helene, having made landfall 300 miles away in Florida and heading towards Atlanta, took a sudden dramatic turn to the east and wreaked utter devastation in the area, the 89th Masters is taking place this week. In Walton Way, a short drive from Augusta National Golf Club, scars remain from what was confirmed by Georgia Power as the most destructive hurricane in the company’s 140-year history and, by all accounts, it is the same story in other areas on the outskirts of the city that is home to one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Eleven lives were lost from trees falling on houses as the hurricane slammed into the Central Savannah River Area, which spans 13 counties in Georgia and five in South Carolina along the Savannah River. A report released by the National Hurricane Centre revealed that nearly 400 homes in the Augusta area had been destroyed, with another 3,000 suffering major damage and 3,500 more with moderate damage. Golf courses were hit, too. Drone footage showed numerous trees had come down at Augusta National while at Champions Retreat, the venue used for the opening two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, a staggering 1,400 trees were felled by the hurricane. No wonder people were asking in its aftermath if the area as a whole could recover in time to play host to the latest edition of The Masters and, quite simply, the scale of the recovery operation over the past few months has been enormous. In Richmond, one of those aforementioned counties, close to 60,000 loads of debris were hauled away, enough apparently to fill more than 950 Olympic-sized swimming pools or nearly three Empire State Buildings. Augusta National donated $5 million toward community recovery efforts, with Fred Ridley, the club’s chairman, first acknowledging the impact of the storm in January when he spoke to reporters during the Latin America Amateur Championship in Buenos Aires. “Hurricane Helene was really a devastating event for the Augusta community. We suffered a fair amount of impact from the hurricane, as did the entire community,” he said. “I think what I’m most proud of is the response of our entire organisation to that natural disaster, which is really what it was. “And not only what they did to get Augusta National back in shape, but, as importantly, how they pitched in with the Augusta community and really helped out because there were many, many people – many of our people were out of their homes for a number of weeks. No electricity. The community didn’t have water for a while. So, I’m just really proud of how our entire organisation responded to that.” Those aerial images in the days soon after the storm showed numerous tall pines had been uprooted around Augusta National, with the 16th green looking as though it had borne the brunt of the worst of the damage at a venue that prides itself on being pristine. In his January chat, Ridley had talked about how “we have not quite as many trees as we did a year ago” but, at the same time, insisted that the damage to the course had been “minor”. Well, Saturday, when the club opened its doors for the final round of the sixth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, was the first chance both patrons and the media had to see for themselves what difference that direct hurricane hit had actually made and how the course had recovered. In truth - and this, of course, should come as no surprise given that Augusta National has pulled off some astonishing overnight feats in the past never mind in the space of six months - the vast majority of people wouldn’t really notice that any damage had been done or that it looks any different. Those in the know, though, did notice a difference. “They talk about hearing the roars around here - and now you will be able to see them,” one seasoned Masters media member declared, referring, for example, how from the fifth fairway views of the sixth, 16th and 17th holes are now visible due to clusters of trees having disappeared. On this correspondent’s first walk of the week on the course, it immediately struck me as I headed down into Amen Corner that neighbouring Augusta Country Club was more visible from the 11th fairway than it used to be while the tee on that hole can now be seen from the tenth green, which wasn’t the case 12 months ago. According to one of my local media colleagues, the area of trees between the first and ninth fairways has been thinned out a fair bit while the Augusta Chronicle reported that there are now only four trees to the right of the 16th green, which has been totally rebuilt but providing exactly the same challenge as in the past, whereas a photograph from last year showed nine trees in that area of the course. “There's definitely some trees gone, some areas that were really, really thick and now you can see a little more through them,” Patrick Reed, the 2018 winner, told Sports Illustrated of what he’d discovered during a pre-event visit. “But the actual playability of the golf course hasn't changed. All the trees that come into play, all the trees down the edges of the fairways ... All those are still there. All of those that are in the way.” For fans tuning in on TV, it will be the same Augusta National they’ve become used to and also back to being at its colourful best due to the azaleas being in full bloom for this edition, creating a stunning backdrop at the 13th hole in particular but all around the course as well. Hurricane Helene may have hit hard, but the show goes on!